I’ve always thought there is something strong and handsome, looking at the hands on the steering wheel from the passenger seat. Someone else takes control, and I end up just where I am suppose to go.

I haven’t driven a car in years. I would like to partly say it is because there is no opportunity in Tokyo to drive a car (public transportation and taxis FTW!), but the other half of the truth is that I have gotten a bit scared of driving. Visiting Canada I eventually tried driving a car for the first time in 5 years. And it wasn’t half bad. It was my first time driving automatic, and it was like driving a go-cart. I felt a strange sense of freedom after I realized I could, in theory, drive wherever I wanted, if I wanted. …but I’m just frozen here on the same old spot.

“To be vulnerable, taking risks, doing what you love and greeting each day with gratitude is to move through life as who you are and were meant to be. This is where joy ultimately resides.”

-Brene Brown

I got to go to Bird Kingdom in Niagara Falls yesterday, and I started searching for images of birds online after my visit. I found these images, they feature birds of paradise and were made by Richard Bowdler Sharpe at the end of the 18th century. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous drawings and gorgeous birds.

I have never tried making pasta in a machine before, only by hand (Thank you Madeleine), but it was ridiculously easy. You just measured up everything, tossed it in the machine, and out came tasty, light and fluffy pasta. If there would have been a bit more space in the Tokyo apartment I would buy a pasta-making-machine, but for now I guess I have to settle for homemade pasta for special occasions visiting Canada.

Ok, I have to be honest, when I was first offered a Caesar, I thought it sounded pretty disgusting. Who on earth would put clam broth in a drink? Seafood and alcohol wasn’t my idea of a good time. (Why Canada, why?!) However – upon tasting this drink, consisting of vodka, Clamato (tomato juice and clam broth), hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce and a celery stick, I actually really liked it. It is like a Bloody Mary, but better. Try to not think about clam broth part and just try it with an open mind. Yummy!

How incredibly nice to see actual greenery again. Lovely people teaching me the names of flowers, slow afternoons and evenings doing nothing much. Less is more.